


Kneel Before the Crown

by LLReid



Category: Reigning Passions (Visual Novel)
Genre: Altadellys, F/F, Fantasy, Fluff and Mush, Lysende, Queen - Freeform, Romantic Fluff, Royalty, Strong Female Characters, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24054217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LLReid/pseuds/LLReid
Summary: Fic inspired by Audiomachine’s ‘Kneel Before the Crown’~~~~~“How do I tolerate their ignorance and their anger at losing the illusion of power they once held? They think I’m a doll they can dress up and twist into prostration.”“Set them on fire,” the spy breathed, chuckling as Lyrei’s eyes went wide. A small smile spread across her face and she gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “In your mind.”“I thought you were suggesting I commit arson!”“That is our last resort,” she teased. With one of her free hands she reached out and skimmed her fingertips lightly across her cheek. “Idiots are highly flammable, my love. Let them all burn in hell. Let them fuel the fire that keeps you striving for greatness.”
Relationships: Xenia of the Autumn/Lyrei Ararieth, Xenia/Main Character (Reigning Passions)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Kneel Before the Crown

“That is quite enough,” Lyrei growled, venom absolutely dripping from her each and every word as she silenced her arguing council. The command was cool and strong like steel, dangerously calm and effortlessly powerful. A few words from the queen of all Lysende was all that it took to quieten the long marble council chamber to the extent that one could quite literally hear a pin dropping on the polished floors. It was a tangible thing, her power; the kind that one could literally tangle in their fingers.

The persona of the Queen that Lyrei dawned whilst doing her duties was so, so different to how she actually was. The persona was her way of ensuring that she didn’t give every part of herself to her people, it was her way of staying sane. She was such a social young woman — and so popular around the palace with courtiers, the younger nobles, and servants alike — that sometimes Xenia wondered where she got it from. In many ways she was the exact opposite of her. She liked to let a lot of people of her choosing in; Xenia liked to keep most people out.

The air was thick with the aroma of saffron and fresh turmeric, cinnamon and salted olive oil; fresh bread that had been mostly devoured sat on the long table beside large bowls of fluffy rice, sautéed raisins, heaps of berries, and sliced almonds. Feta cheese was stacked beside a small mountain of fresh walnuts — still soft and damp — and handfuls of basil, mint, scallions, and radishes. There were spiced green beans, ears of grilled corn, dense soups, bowls of olives, and tricolored salads. Council meetings that ran late often doubled as dinner parties, and the queen had learned to ensure that nothing but comfort foods were served on such occasions — as the vast majority of the council members were utterly insufferable.

“Your majesty—,” Lord Ubel began, only to fall silent at an unamused glare from the queen. His smile was usually always laced with dynamite, but now he looked like little more than a scolded child after receiving a slap on the wrists. Xenia couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as she watched her sweet and clever girl make an arrogant man almost three times her age shrink. 

Even just listening to a single word from Lord Ubel made her want to laugh one of those strange, high-pitched, delusional laughs that signals the end of a person's sanity — so she was unspeakably grateful that Lyrei was able to placate his incessant whining. The older nobles were so, so deluded that all they seemed to do was make life entirely more complicated all the time. Ruining all of the best laid plans by making every right choice so damn difficult to make. Making everything so damn confusing and political when it was really only a question of what was right and what was wrong.

Spans of practice had taught her to bury her emotions as a reflex — especially in the presence of the old nobility — and it took a few seconds for the feelings to really emerge. They formed slowly, infinite hands reaching up from infinite graves to fan the ancient rage Xenia had never really allowed herself to touch. Lord Ubel was insufferable. Absolutely insufferable.

“If I require your advice I will ask for it, Lord Ubel,” Lyrei said icily, her piercing glare never once wavering. She had a heart of silk and a spine of steel. “That goes for all of you. It is no ones place but mine to decide how to punish the bandits on the highways throughout The Wilds.”

“All due respect, your majesty, but a bunch of ruffians and thugs deserve to hang,” Prince Tristan said. He was repulsive. So much so that Xenia actually wanted his exterior to match his broken and ugly interior. She wanted to cripple his cockiness with the palm of her hand.

“Spoken like one who has known nothing but privilege and a full belly,” General Nisse countered. “Selfish needs, wants, and desires needed to be obliterated. Greed, overindulgence, and gluttony have to be expunged from human behaviour—“

“Do you never get exhausted being so wholly unbearable all the time? You have as much charisma as the rotting innards of unidentified roadkill, Tristan,” Princess Piama blurted out.

There was an abrupt wheezing noise and everyone in the room turned toward the sound. Lyris and Sevastian both had hands pressed to their mouths, desperately trying to suppress their boyish smiles. Lyris shook his head, holding up a single hand in apology. And then he broke completely, laughing out loud, snorting as he tried to muffle the high pitched sound. “I am so sorry,” he chuckled, pressing his lips together, shaking his head again. “She... she has a point.”

“This is not a funny moment. It’s not. We are not laughing,” Sevastian snorted.

Lord Ubel looked like he wanted punch his son in the face, and Xenia distinctly heard Ruelle’s muffled laughter as the queen’s bodyguard stayed hidden in the shadows somewhere close to the Spring princess — who she was adamant she was not courting. 

“Thank you for that, Piama. I don’t think I could have said it better myself.” The sound of Lyrei’s voice drew attention away from the giggling courtiers, every set of eyes in the room settling back on her. “In all seriousness, who are you to decide who gets to die, Tristan? Who are any of you to decide who should be killed? Who are you to tell me which father I should destroy and which child I should orphan and which mother should be left without her son, which brother should be left without a sister, which grandmother should spend the rest of her life crying in the early hours of the morning because the body of her grandchild was buried in the ground before her own?” The queen rose from her throne and everyone in the room, save for Xenia, fell to their knees out of respect. “Who do you think you are to tell me that it is alright to be able to kill another living person, that it is interesting and fair to be able to ensnare another soul, that it is fair to choose a victim simply because I am capable of killing with a single word?”

The arrogant summer princeling seemed baffled and glanced frantically around the room, hoping that anyone would come to his aid. No one did. “I... I meant no offence, my queen.”

“The ignorant never do,” Lyrei breathed. “I have made my position clear. I will not condemn the underprivileged to death for simply trying to thrive in a system that has been purposely designed to keep them on their knees. My rule will be a merciful one, one where everyone has an equal opportunity to rise and make something of themselves. I will not stand by idly whilst you lot see a group of half-starved teenagers hang because you are so privileged that they are less than human to you.”

“Here, here!,” Nisse smirked as she raised her wine glass. She was smiling like someone had strung the stars across her lips, a twinkle matched in her green eyes.

“What do you propose we do with them, your majesty?,” Amara asked. 

“Rehabilitate them. There are plenty of apprenticeships available in the city, see to it that they each have a job and a place to stay by the end of the night. The dungeons are no place for a group of children,” Lyrei said without missing a beat. “General Nisse, you will find out which villages they come from and have someone compile in-depth reports on the agricultural and financial situation in each. Tansy’s taxation of the Wilds has made the vast majority of villages even more destitute than they were before, I will do whatever I must to ensure no one else has to resort to such drastic measures in order to live.”

Both Amara of the Queensguard and General Nisse bowed their heads. Neither woman even attempted to hide the fact they were smiling, much to the obvious annoyance of the pampered blue bloods scowling at their queen’s refusal to shed the blood of her subjects. Perhaps it was not naiveté, but suffering, that inspired kindness, Xenia thought. Perhaps, she thought, it was pain that inspired such compassion.

“Spoken like a true queen,” Xenia muttered under her breath so that only Lyrei could hear her. Her voice so soft, so melodic, so inexplicably tender.

A small smile twitched at the corners of the queen’s mouth, but instead of flushing all the way to the tips of her ears as she once would have, she simply took a long sip out of her wine glass in a bid to conceal how flustered she was. However, the Mistress of Spies did not miss the faintest tinge of pink at her cheeks as her lips twitched up to flick the switch that lit the fire in her heart. The queen’s gaze lingered along the lines of Xenia’s body, just long enough to strike a match to the gasoline flowing in her veins. She had the most unusual blueish green eyes she’d ever seen. Light and deep and drenched in passion. Part of her always wondered what it'd be like to see the world through such a beautiful lense, her heartbeat quickening of its own free will until Lyrei quickly glanced away before either of them could become too caught up in one another.

“I assume no one has any intelligent objections?,” Lyrei asked rhetorically, as if she’d actually think twice about putting anyone who dared put themselves on a pedestal above the peasantry in their place. No one objected, the room remaining eerily quiet. “Good,” she continued. “This meeting is adjourned. Piama, will you have one of the servants package this food and deliver it to the needy? I do not want to see it go to waste.”

The spring princess smiled toothily and nodded her head. She always was overly eager to dive into whatever lady-in-waiting duties Lyrei was willing to give her, if Ruelle’s frequent comments about her were anything to go by.

Without any prompting Xenia rose from her seat and looped her arm through Lyrei’s as they took their leave. She thoroughly ignored the ridiculous bowing she’d become accustomed to whenever she walked anywhere with the queen on her arm, and nodded at Ruelle hiding in the shadows to signal that she did not have to follow them. There would be no need of a body guard when they retired to the royal bedchamber, as the corridor that lead to Lyrei’s room was quite literally the most heavily guarded route in all of Lysende. 

“You conducted yourself well tonight,” Xenia whispered. “Somehow you continue to surpass all of my expectations.”

“I came close to slapping Lord Ubel more than once,” Lyrei sighed. Compliments were not things she really knew how to process, she’d either get too flustered to string a sentence together or find some way to deflect. If one was unaware of her upbringing it might have been frustrating, but Xenia understood perfectly well why she was the way she was — and she vowed to continue complimenting her anyway.

“I think everyone with a functional brain did, to be honest. Some people are so stupid that they actually think that there are thick neon lines separating good and evil... it’s rather infuriating to listen to them.”

The queen huffed in amusement, her tense body relaxing almost imperceptibly as they walked arm-in-arm through the winding hallways of the palace. “How do I ignore the old nobility, Xenia?,” she asked, sounding exhausted down to her bones. “How do I tolerate their ignorance and their anger at losing the illusion of power they once held? They think I’m a doll they can dress up and twist into prostration.”

“Set them on fire,” the spy breathed, chuckling as Lyrei’s eyes went wide. A small smile spread across her face and she gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “In your mind.”

“I thought you were suggesting I commit arson!”

“That is our last resort,” she teased. With one of her free hands she reached out and skimmed her fingertips lightly across her cheek. “Idiots are highly flammable, my love. Let them all burn in hell. Let them fuel the fire that keeps you striving for greatness.”

Lyrei nodded.

“Being a monarch is a thankless occupation. Few will ever be grateful for what you do or for the changes you implement — you know that already, as few realise how difficult cleaning up Tansy’s mess has been.” She sighed. “Their memories will be short and excruciatingly convenient. Your every success will be unfairly scrutinised. Your accomplishments will be brushed aside, breeding only greater expectations from those around you. Your power will — at times — push you away from your friends, because they will never know how difficult the crown is to wear. You will be made to feel lonely. Lost. You will long for validation from those you once admired, agonising between pleasing old friends and doing what is right for your people. But you must never, ever let the idiots into your head. You are smarter and infinitely more important than they can ever hope to be. They will only lead you astray.”

The moment they arrived in Lyrei’s room, the Queen practically tore off her tiara and any jewels she’d gone to the trouble of draping herself in. Xenia had to admire the fact that she didn't want to be draped in silks and diamonds, she did so only to keep up the persona she dawned whenever she had to play the role of queen. All Lyrei had ever really wanted was to reach out and touch another person not just with her hands but with her heart. She knew the world and its lack of compassion intimately, its harsh, grating judgement, and its cold, resentful eyes. She saw it all around her and wanted to fix it, that was what she cared about — everything else was simply ornamental.

One could see all of Altadellys from the royal bedchamber, which was precisely why Xenia had hand picked this room for her: the rolling hills of the floating city, the endless explosion of colour cascading down and across the lush landscapes of each quarter. Reds and blues: Maroon and ceruleans. Yellow and tangerine and violet and aquamarine. Every hue held a flavour, a heartbeat, a life. She took a deep breath and drew it all in, glittering against the night sky that sparkled with thousands of distant stars and galaxies.

Lyrei flopped onto her bed with an exasperated sigh and Xenia leaned over her, cupping her face in her hands, her thumbs two parentheses around her mouth. She pulled Lyrei close and kissed her. She kissed her until time toppled over and her head spun into oblivion. It was a heavy, unbelievable kiss. It was the kind of kiss that inspired stars to climb into the sky and light up the world. The kind that took both forever and no time at all. Her hands were still holding Lyrei’s cheeks, and she pulled back just to look her in the eye, her chest heaving. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Lyrei whispered, her voice quiet and overly breathy. “Out here,” she trailed her fingers along the sharp contours of Xenia’s jaw, “and in here,” she said, pressing her hand against her chest. “So beautiful.”

The spy’s cheeks flushed almost immediately and her heart clenched. And she promised herself then, in that very moment, that she would hold her forever, just like this, until all the pain and suffering she’d gone through was long gone from her mind, until she was given a chance to live the kind of life where no one could wound her deeply ever again. 

She rested her brow against Lyrei’s, the two of them simply breathing together, their hearts beating in perfect sync. She could feel Lyrei’s heart beating against her chest and she was immediately thrown by the beauty of it. The songs of her soul; the harmony within her: It was incredible. Here. This. Her body against her body. This was her home. 

Her thoughts shocked her. There was a desperate heat in the pit of my stomach she had for so long wished she could ignore whenever she so much as looked at Lyrei. There were butterflies in her chest she’d wished she could explain away. There was an ache in her core that she’d been unwilling to name. She loved her. She adored her. So much that it was dizzying.

“I love you, my sweet girl,” she whispered, so close that her lips brushed Lyrei’s with every word. 

“I love you, too, Xenia,” Lyrei breathed. “Will you sleep here tonight? I... I want to be able to feel you.”

“I have one final obligation that needs seeing through before I can retire to bed,” she murmured. “But afterwards I will come straight back here and hold you until morning.”

“Really? You’d climb that obnoxious set of stairs again just to hold me?,” Lyrei blushed.

Xenia huffed. She’d climb a tower twice as high to hold her through the night. To stroke her hair and tell her stories from her homeland and tuck her close like she was afraid she would somehow disappear in the dark. There was very little Xenia enjoyed more than paint pictures of people and places Lyrei had never seen until the girl was drowning in a drug of dreams to escape a world with no real refuge, no relief, no release but her reassurances in her ear. When she finally spoke, her voice was languid and syrupy like the air around them, “There's very little I wouldn't do for you.” 

Lyrei smiled, sweetly. “What is it you have to do?”

“The Starchaser has some information they think I’ll find interesting. They asked me to meet them at the docks for the exchange.” The softest smile played at the corners of her lips as she slowly ran her fingers through long red hair. “Were it anything else I’d defer it until morning but—“

“I understand, Xenia. You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Lyrei assured her. 

“You are my queen,” she teased. “Technically, you are the one person I should have to explain myself to... but I certainly appreciate how understanding you are.”

Lyrei scoffed, feigning offence at the use of the Q-word. She’d seen a lot of strange things in her life, but she never thought she’d have the pleasure of seeing a queen who hated being treated like one. “You keep me safe, Xenia. More so than anyone ever has. I’d never grudge your dedication to your job... it has saved my life more times than I even care to count.”

“I—“

“The world tried to crush you, and you refused to be shattered. You've recovered from every setback a stronger person, rising form the ashes only to astonish everyone around you. And you will continue to surprise and confuse those who underestimate you. It’s an inevitability that you do not have to apologise for,” Lyrei interjected.

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to her brow. Love had made her fearless in a way she never thought that she’d be again, and wasn’t it strange? It was so much easier to fight for another than it was to fight for oneself. It was so much easier to do her duty because it was keeping Lyrei safe, than it had ever been to do it simply because she had to.

“I expect your clothes off when I return,” she smirked.

“Is that an order?”

“Mhm,” she hummed. She could not help her need to just stare; to know her and her features: the slope of her nose, the curve of her lips, the line of her jaw. “I want your clothes off and the lights on and I want to study you. I want you out of this fancy dress so I can take my time with every inch of you. I want to run my fingertips across the soft skin of your neck and trace it all the way down. I want to feel the weight of you pressed against me, wrapped around me, for however long I desire. Does that sound agreeable?”

Lyrei’s breath hitched in her throat and she nodded her head. “If you take too long I’ll just end up playing with myself whilst I wait.”

“Thank you very much for that glorious mental image... I doubt I’ll be able to take in a word of what Galen has to say now,” Xenia laughed, pressing one final kiss on her face.

Lyrei giggled. “Hurry back, darling.”

\- fin.


End file.
